The TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) and the Chattisgarh Tourism Board today jointly announced the staging of the inaugural SECL Chattisgarh Open Golf Championship presented by Chattisgarh Tourism. PGTI’s first-ever event in the state of Chattisgarh carries a prize purse of INR 1 crore and is scheduled to be held at the magnificent Fairway Golf & Lake Resort in Naya Raipur from February 25 – 28, 2025.

SECL is the Title Partner for the event, Chattisgarh Tourism Board is the Presenting Partner, while Chattisgarh Herbals, NMDC, NRDA and Purple Goat are Associate Sponsors. Fairway Golf & Lake Resort, Naya Raipur is the Host Venue.

Shri Arun Sao, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, expressed his excitement about the upcoming SECL Chhattisgarh Open Golf Championship presented by Chattisgarh Tourism, the first-ever professional golf event in the state. Sharing his vision for the event and its significance for the region, Shri Sao said:

“I am delighted to support the staging of the first-ever professional golf event in Chhattisgarh in association with the PGTI. The inaugural Chhattisgarh Open Golf Championship will play a pivotal role in promoting the state as an attractive golfing destination and placing it firmly on the international golfing map. This event will not only bring leading professionals from India and overseas to Chhattisgarh but will also inspire budding golfers in the state to dream big and aim high.”

The championship aligns with Shri Arun Sao’s commitment to driving sports development and creating opportunities for local talent to grow while showcasing Chhattisgarh’s potential as a destination for major sporting events.

Mr. Kapil Dev, President, PGTI, said, “We at the PGTI are very excited about exploring new territory by taking the tour to Chattisgarh for the first time thus expanding PGTI’s base across the country. This is in line with PGTI’s core objective of creating maximum playing opportunities for our Indian professionals. We thank the Government of Chattisgarh, SECL, Chattisgarh Tourism Board, Fairway Golf & Lake Resort and all other event partners for extending their support to the event and sharing our vision of growing professional golf in the country.”

The SECL Chattisgarh Open is a major landmark moment for the PGTI as we expand our geographical base by adding Chattisgarh to our schedule for the first time. The professionals are extremely excited about taking up the challenge of playing at the outstanding Fairway Golf & Lake Resort for the first time. We thank the Government of Chattisgarh, SECL, Chattisgarh Tourism Board, Fairway Golf & Lake Resort and all the event partners for their support in making this event possible. We seek to work in partnership with all other stakeholders involved in the event in bringing the spotlight on Chattisgarh as a leading tourist and golfing destination.”

The tournament will have a field of 126 players including 123 professionals and three amateurs. The event will be played in the stroke-play format consisting of four rounds of 18 holes each. The top 50 players and ties will make the cut after two rounds. The par for the course is 69.

The star-studded field at the tournament will feature leading Indian professionals Om Prakash Chouhan, Udayan Mane, Rashid Khan, Manu Gandas, Aman Raj and Chikkarangappa S, to name a few.

There are 13 foreign players from seven different countries participating in the tournament. The foreign names include Bangladeshis Jamal Hossain, Badal Hossain, Md Akbar Hossain and Md Somrat Sikdar, Sri Lankans N Thangaraja and K Prabagaran, Americans Koichiro Sato and Dominic Piccirillo, Nepal’s Sukra Bahadur Rai and Subash Tamang, Czech Republic’s Stepan Danek, Italy’s Federico Zucchetti and Uganda’s Joshua Seale.

The Fairway Golf & Lake Resort, Naya Raipur, is located in the newly planned capital city of Chhattisgarh, namely “Nava Raipur,” which was planned as an integrated community with leisure and recreation. The golf course is located on the bank of a 450-acre Jhanjh lake and beautifully surrounded by almost a 500-acre forest.

The first 18-hole golf course to be developed in the central part of India. Designed by “Pacific Coast Design” from Australia and project management by SGDC, Pacific Coast Design master-planned and detailed-designed a new residential/resort 18-hole golf project in Raipur. The course will be a fine example of how challenging yet fun 6,000 yards of golf can be. With water, bunkers, and risk/reward opportunities, the course has a spice about it not found in many modern golf courses.

The golf course will quickly establish itself as one of India’s best courses. The routing is a combination of thrills and challenges while never forgetting that golf should be fun. The course itself will feature bold bunkers, several water bodies, nullas, and a bold individual landscape coupled with a rolling terrain covered with a dense sward of manicured turf.

The PGTI has so far staged events across India in 16 States, 2 Union Territories and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. With the staging of the SECL Chattisgarh Open Golf Championship, the PGTI makes its first foray into the state of Chattisgarh, thus further expanding its geographical footprint in the country to 17 States.